Dell reports 24pc profit on higher Q4 sales

13 Feb 2004

In its fourth quarter results Dell, which employs 4,000 people in Ireland, has reported strong sales of servers and storage devices that have helped it get a 24pc gain in fourth-quarter profit, beating Wall Street expectations.

The company reported fourth-quarter income of US$749m, or 29 cents a share, on revenue of US$11.5bn, beating analysts estimates of 28 cents a share but meeting the revenue estimate. During the same period a year ago, Dell earned US$603m, or 23 cents a share, on US$9.73bn in revenue.

“People are realising why they invested in IT to begin with,” said Dell CEO Michael Dell (pictured). “We’re in a good position to take advantage of that, given our market share.”

Dell highlighted growth in its PowerEdge servers, which rose 40pc from the year-ago quarter, while revenue from storage products was 47pc higher.

Desktop sales made up 52pc of Dell revenue in the quarter, down from 55pc a year ago. Notebook revenue edged up to 27pc from 26pc, and enterprise sales rose to 21pc from 19pc last year.

Revenue from software and peripherals, including products such as printers, the new Dell DJ music player and flat-panel screen televisions, many of which Dell didn’t have for sale a year ago, rose 36pc on a quarter-over-quarter basis.

“Dell is alone in simultaneously providing customers great value, growing faster than the industry and earning a compelling profit for investors,” said Kevin Rollins, the president and chief operating officer.

Dell said that it will meet the current consensus estimates for the first quarter. It expects sales to rise 20pc to US$11.2bn and earnings per share of 28 cents, up 22pc.